The final of the 2011 World League between Russia and Brazil is liken to a team of stars against a star team

Gdansk, Poland, July 10, 2011 – The grand finale of the FIVB Volleyball World League 2011 has arrived at its showpiece event with the two best men’s teams in the world facing off in the final in the impressive Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland starting at 20.00 (local time).

After six weeks of Intercontinental Round action and a week of finals we have come down to a repeat of last year’s final - which Brazil won 3-1 - in a showdown between two sides who have been the standout teams in this year’s competition.

Nine-time champions Brazil won 10 out of 12 matches, losing only to USA while Russia won 11 out of 12 in their group, losing to Bulgaria. Going into the final Russia has won 15 out of 16 matches in this year’s World League competition, including a 3-0 win over Brazil in pool play, although not much can be read into that result considering both sides had already qualified for the semifinals.

As Andrea Zorzi said in his blog, world champions Brazil will start as favourites as they search for their ninth title in 12 years and their 12th medal in 13, while everyone is waiting to see if Russia can finally fulfil their great potential.

It was a similar scenario in last year’s final with the team of stars of Russia going down to the star team of Brazil. All eyes will be on Giba and his teammates to see if they can continue the Brazil dynasty which has seen them win the last two World Leagues, three World Championships, two World Cups and two Grand Champions Cups. With the likes of last year’s MVP Murilo, Giba and star liberio Sergio pulling the strings, coach Bernardinho has had the opportunity to call on the likes of Sidao and Leo – the tournament’s best spiker to date - to play key roles, leaving star players Dante, Rodrigo and Vissotto on the bench, emphasising the all round nature of this class outfit.

Russia, who have won 13 World League medals but the title only once in 2002, will rely on last year’s best blocker Dmitriy Muserskiy and best setter Sergey Grankin to orchestrate Russia’s effort while best spiker and scorer Maxim Mikhaylov will again be Russia’s key attacking weapon.

The numbers are in Brazil’s favour with the world No. 1 having beaten world No. 2 Russia 22 times in 34 encounters, including 15 out of 19 matches in the World League while recent key matches go in Brazil’s slight favour also having beaten Russia in last year’s World League final, the 2009 World League semifinal while Russia claimed the honours at the 2008 Olympic Games pool match and the 2008 World League playoff for bronze.

Starting at 17:00 is the bronze medal match featuring Argentina against hosts Poland. It’s the first time the two countries have played together for a medal and the hosts should start as slight favourites considering their passionate fans and strong record against their South American opponents. Poland have beaten Argentina 17 times in 22 encounters including 15 times out of 17 in the World League, including the tight 3-2 win in pool play. Poland, ranked 10th in the world, have won the last 15 matches against Argentina, who are ranked 8th, dating back to the 2002 World League.

The key for Argentina is this new wave of form they have produced for this year’s tournament. They have already guaranteed a best-place World League finish for the country and they are searching for their first medal to add to their Olympic and World Championship bronze of 1988 and 1992 respectively. Poland, are also searching for their first ever World League medal having finished fourth in 2005 and 2007 to bring back memories of their glory days of the ‘70s when they won Olympic and World Championship gold in 1976 and 1974 respectively, not to mention the World Championship silver medal in 2006.